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Network of Indian Development Professionals
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rovina madan
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Special Needs Co-ordinator, Educator and Counsellor
, Inclusive Primary School
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Mumbai,
India
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Inclusion Specialist with a double masters degree in Social work & Special Needs.5 years of experience working with children with special needs in an inclusive school. Established the special needs unit in the organisation and liaised with parents, therapists, teachers & the school management to make inclusion a reality. My strength lies in building great professional & interpersonal relationships |
 Contact rovina madan
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Area of Expertise: |
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Capacity Building, Training, Advocacy
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Health, Doctors, Nurses, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition
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Monitoring, Evaluation, Policy, Research
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Private Sector, Corporate Social Responsibility
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Social, Gender, Education, Youth, Child
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Professional Experience: |
I believe that Education will help build a new social order based on social justice and human dignity. I have done extensive work in the field of education, particularly special education. My first experience was with Spastics Society of India as a volunteer and during the same time I was a reader and writer for a visually challenged student at another institution. The real time exposure as an aid in the learning resource center which was part of an inclusive school showed me the missing gaps in knowledge and skills in most regular schools. These six months changed the course of my life. While at Nirmala Niketan, in my first year I worked with PRATHAM- an NGO that works for universalisation of primary education. I initiated English classes for a class of 40 children who were rescued child labourers. I even conducted a 2-day workshop along with my colleagues for adolescent girls who had minimum levels of education providing them with counseling and skill training for vocational development. This gave me a greater insight into the education system
and has only made my conviction for change stronger. I also worked closely with the Mankhurd Childrens Home for the rehabilitation and repatriation for rescued child labourers. During my second year, I worked at MANAV Foundation- a daycare/rehabilitation centre for mentally ill adults. Although I was a trainee here, I regularly took sessions with with the group as well as assisted the counsellors in the weekly sessions with the patients. I also worked on a project called ‘Project Inclusion’ which advocates the employment rights of mentally challenged individuals.In a way, this was a great experience because I understood the treatment meeted out to people who are not thought of as 'normal' in at differenet stages of their lives and the struggles they have to go through to live without fear and with dignity.
Working in two schools in Nottingham, taught me to work with children having special educational needs in a tough environment giving my understanding a new dimension and making me even more acutely aware of the discrepancies in the systems that are in place in India. Back in Mumbai, I worked for a short while with a developmental pediatrician. While here , we conducted a health camp with MP Priya Dutt in the Bharatnagar area in BKC. This camp was to identify at risk children and to counsel their families to get the right help. We also conducted a training seminar/workshop at a teacher training college (B.ED) in Mumbai. The lack of awareness and knowledge among the students three was extremely disheartening. And on top of that, the negligible information given to them with respect to children with different abilities was simply scary to say the least. For the next few years, I worked with two small institutions- Little Hearts Learning Centre and Aditya Vidya Mandir- both inclusive environments to bridge the gap between both sets of students as well as both sets of teachers- 'normal'
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Education: |
My academic focus has been in the field of Social Work with a special emphasis on education and equality for children with special educational needs.
After completing my BA in Sociology from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai, I went on to pursue my Masters in Social Work at College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai. This program was instrumental in providing a holistic perspective on present issues and debates on child rights, gender studies, political and religious sensibilities, NGO organisation and management and fundraising. Through academic courses and fieldwork, I understood community and stakeholder engagement and corporate social responsibility. As part of this, I also submitted a research paper (dissertation) titled 'Gender in a globalised world'.
Given my interest in education and skill development, I followed this up with a second Master's degree in Special Needs from the University of Nottingham, England. While here, I had the opportunity to work at two primary schools in the city. This exposed me to the workings of an education system that is different from ours and it also helped me to contextualise some of the challenges faced by the education system in India as a whole. This led me to write my dissertation titled 'Special Education Needs in England and India: a comparative analysis' and graduated with a merit.
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Available for: |
- Consulting assignments
- Job opportunities
- Internships / Fellowships
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Years of Experience:
2-5 years |
Highest Qualification:
Masters |
Languages:
English, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, French |
Nationality:
Indian
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